Illinois Continues Climb in KenPom Following Victory at Iowa

The Illini collected their fifth straight win Sunday, knocking off the Hawkeyes at home to continue inching up the KenPom rankings

Jan 11, 2026; Iowa City, Iowa, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini guard Keaton Wagler (23) and forward Jake Davis (15) walk off the court after the game against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images | Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

After grinding out a gritty road win at Iowa on Sunday, Illinois moved to 13-3 overall and 4-1 in the Big Ten. For now, the Illini sit at No. 16 in the AP poll – a spot they will surely leave in the dust come Monday’s update.

Still, although Illinois will undoubtedly move up a few spots in the AP poll, it likely won’t be nearly as high as the squad deserves to be, at least in the eyes of one advanced metrics model: KenPom.

Where does Illinois rank in KenPom?

Nov 28, 2025; New York, New York, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images | Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

The victory at Iowa bumped Illinois up to No. 7 in KenPom's rankings, which leaves the Illini at third among Big Ten teams. (Purdue is No. 4 and Michigan, despite suffering its first loss, remained KenPom's No. 1.)

Where does Illinois’ offense and defense rank?

The Illini offense continues to hum along, at least in the estimation of KenPom's indicators (and most efficiency standards). On Sunday, Brad Underwood’s club shot 28-for-57 (49.1 percent) against a stingy defensive foe in Iowa, and in turn the Illini retained their spot as KenPom's No. 3 offense in the country.

The other end of the floor is where Illinois continues to make the most strides. Especially in the aftermath of the Nebraska loss, questions swirled around Champaign, the majority of which were focused on Illinois’ porous defense – which also was put on blast after a November falter against Alabama.

Since then, the Illini defense has been a different animal, yielding just 58.4 points per game and allowing just one opponent to crack 40 percent from the field (Iowa shot 40.9 percent). As a result, Illinois’ defense has skyrocketed up the charts and is now currently ranked the 16th-best in the nation.

Where do Illinois’ losses rank in KenPom?

Interestingly, each of the Illini’s blemishes have come via an opponent ranked below them in KenPom. No. 17 Nebraska, No. 14 Alabama and No. 9 UConn have each taken a game off Illinois, yet each club sits behind it in the metric.

But once March rolls around, the Illini’s standing in KenPom can only help them so much. Head-to-head results will always outweigh any metric, even if a (somewhat) logical argument can be made that Illinois may be “better” than some of the teams it has fallen to.

It certainly won’t hurt the Illini to have such a strong backer in KenPom. But the name of the game remains crystal clear: win. If the Illini do that – and that has been the case of late as they ride a five-game winning streak – they will ensure they lock up a high seed in the Big Dance.